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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Addictive Behaviors
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1573058
Association of Internet addiction with psychiatric symptom levels and sleep disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- Institute of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
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Background: Maladaptive Internet use is defined as Internet addiction disorders (IAD), which can lead to psychological problems and sleep disorders. Although many studies on the correlation between Internet addiction, psychiatric symptom levels, and sleep disorders have been conducted in recent years, there is no meta-analysis to substantiate the connection between these variables. Methods: We systematically searched databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to collect relevant studies using keywords associated with Internet addiction, psychological problems, and sleep disorders. All comparable studies that provided sufficient data (e.g., correlation coefficients) were included in our analysis.Results: 41 studies were included, and the results indicated that IAD was associated with psychological problems and sleep quality at moderate to low levels (depression: r = 0.39, 95%CI = 0.34-0.45; SMD = 1.34, 95%CI =0.81-1.86; OR = 0.86, 95%CI = 0.46-1.26; anxiety: r = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.23-0.37; OR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.29-1.52; stress: r = 0.34, 95%CI = 0.29-0.38; OR = 1.76, 95%CI = 0.37-3.16; sleep problems: r = 0.26, 95%CI = 0.19-0.33).Conclusion: This meta-analysis reveals that IAD is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and sleep problems, which indicates that individuals with IAD have an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. Hence, high attention should be paid to Internet addictive behaviors, and preventive and treatment measures should be adopted timely.
Keywords: Meta-analysis, Internet addiction, Depression, Anxiety, stress, Sleep Disorders
Received: 08 Feb 2025; Accepted: 04 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Wang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuanlin Sun, Institute of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
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